GUATEMALA CITY , Guatemala -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- When Guatemalan laborer Faustino Morales fell from a scaffold in February , the response from volunteer firefighters was immediate . Within minutes , the `` bomberos '' reached the accident site with advanced rescue equipment , an ambulance and a thorough knowledge of how to treat his injuries .

Paul Embleton 's BRAVE Foundation has trained more than 1,000 volunteer firefighters in Guatemala .

Just 10 years ago , help would more likely have come from under-trained volunteers who arrived in a pickup truck .

Veteran firefighter Paul Embleton witnessed such a rescue attempt in 1996 while on a medical mission trip to Guatemala -- and it moved him into action .

`` I rode out with a busy company that ran multiple calls a day , mostly involving crashes , shootings , stabbings ... a lot of violence , '' said Embleton , 48 . `` They did n't have ambulances . -LSB- Firefighters -RSB- would respond to these calls , grab the patients from the streets and throw them in the back of the pickup truck . They just transported ; they did n't provide a whole lot of care . ''

He saw several people die in those pickup trucks . Knowing they could have had a better chance of survival with basic pre-hospital care , Embleton , a captain paramedic firefighter from Washington state , saw an opportunity to help .

Embleton launched the BRAVE Foundation -- Bomberos Resourceful And Valiant Efforts -- to provide emergency response training and equipment to volunteer firefighters -LRB- bomberos -RRB- in Guatemala . Do you know someone who should be a CNN Hero ? Nominations are open at CNN.com / Heroes

During his first trip there , he openly criticized the firefighters ' lack of resources and training . The firefighters , in turn , asked him to hold a class for them .

`` I 'd gone back to my hotel to try to think how I was going to teach with the same limited resources they had , '' Embleton said . `` I cut up my hotel bed sheets and made triangular bandages , and got cardboard boxes to utilize for splints . ''

With the help of a 12-year-old interpreter , Embleton taught roughly 100 students techniques in basic bleeding control .

David Alvarez , the chief of 10 Fire Station in Guatemala , was among Embleton 's first students . `` It was really primitive before , '' Alvarez said . `` Basic techniques that firefighters had outside of Guatemala , we 'd never learned , and we wanted to learn . ''

In 1998 , with assistance from fellow Washington firefighters and Rotary International , the BRAVE Foundation established a pilot emergency medical training program in Guatemala City , using the U.S. emergency medical technician curriculum translated into Spanish . Since then , the EMT training program has expanded to 14 training programs throughout the country . Watch Embleton describe what made him take action in Guatemala ''

`` Things have improved drastically since our program began , '' said Embleton . `` The skill level of the firefighters has increased immensely . They have more confidence and more respect from hospitals in providing pre-hospital care , and the citizens have noticed this . ''

In 2007 , just a few years shy of retirement , Embleton was granted a leave of absence from his work as a Washington firefighter . He sold a private Internet-based business and relocated to Guatemala to volunteer full-time .

His group is building a fire station and training firefighters at 120 Company -- the newest company of firefighters in the remote lake community of San Juan La Laguna .

`` We 've moved out to the country to support an indigenous Mayan community where the needs are great , '' Embleton said . `` They 've never had anybody to call because there was nobody available to respond . We 're educating the people that the firefighters are here to help . '' Watch how Embleton and volunteers provide rescue services to a remote community ''

To date , Embleton 's BRAVE Foundation has organized the delivery of 20 firefighting vehicles and more than $ 1 million worth of medical and rescue equipment . The group has provided EMT training to more than 1,000 firefighters .

`` The firefighters have the motivation , and you get a heart for it because you see how well we have it in the States , '' Embleton said . `` These guys are so poor and they try so hard , and they have no other resources to make a program like this work on their own . '' Watch a day in the life of a firefighter in Guatemala ''

Despite his personal sacrifice , Embleton is quick to share credit for BRAVE 's efforts and success , citing the help of volunteers , private donors , firefighters , Rotary and the Guatemala community .

`` You see all the good that it does , '' said Embleton . `` People call the firefighters when they 're in trouble , and they know that the firemen will always be there . ''

Want to get involved ? Check out the BRAVE Foundation and see how to help .

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Paul Embleton 's foundation provides equipment , training to Guatemalan firefighters

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Before Embleton , emergency rescue often came in pickup trucks , not ambulances

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He moved to Guatemala from Washington state in 2007 to volunteer full-time

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Do you know a hero ? Nominations are open at CNN.com / Heroes